International Reciprocal Trade Association - IRTA is committed to promoting just and equitable standards of practice and operation within the Modern Trade and Barter and other Alternative Capital Systems Industry, by raising the awareness and value of these processes to the entire Global Community.

Business Mastery - Sohnen-Moe, Cherie. Business Mastery (4th Ed). Sohnen-Moe Associates, Inc., 2008. For the past two decades, Business Mastery has supported business owners in all realms to reach new levels of success. This book is written specifically for wellness professionals.

TinyURL - Create a shortened URL for your link. Many URLs have become quite lengthy and may contain characters that confuse other programs, or simply be difficult to copy because of line wrapping. A shortened URL does not break in email postings and never expires.

Bitly Brand Tools - Create a shortened URL for your link. The must-have for marketers to fuel branding, engagement, and understanding in the connected world.

Client Education

Creative Client Education Techniques, by Cherie Sohnen-Moe - Everyone in this field is an educator, whether you do relaxation massage or injury rehabilitation. The education occurs in two implicit manners: you teach the body how to properly respond (relax and repair); and you increase your clients’ general physical awareness.

Many theories on learning and personality styles have emerged over the past few decades which address the learning needs of adults. The work I find most applicable is “Multiple Intelligences” formulated by Howard Gardner and extended to the classroom environment by David Lazear.

Communication

SAVI Communications - SAVI is a communication tool that provides a systematic, objective analysis of what makes conversations succeed or fail.

SAVI focuses not on what we say, but on how we say it. There are ways of communicating that make it much more likely that a message will get through accurately and effectively and make it easier to put out and take in important information for problem solving and decision making.

Employer / Employee

Employment Law Resource Guide - The United States Department of Labor has constantly worked to protect the rights and safety of workers across the country. Here are more than 50 resources, including how-to guides, websites, articles and more, to help you to better understand employment law and its many nuances.

Spa Controversy by Cherie Sohnen-Moe - Is working at a spa franchise indentured servitude? Or an excellent career move?

In this article we outline in some detail the processes by which a spa can hire, train, and supervise massage theraists to be ethical and successful representatives of the spa, and to ensure a long-lasting and thriving business.

The National Labor Relations Board - An independent federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages and working conditions.

The Interactive HIPAA program walks you easily through your compliance project. Much of the structure of HIPAA compliance is required by law; however, your personal interaction with the HIPAA interactive program software allows you to create office-specific policies and procedures. This interactive information is automatically imported into your completed HIPAA compliance manuals and forms!

Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute - Continuing Education For Mental Health Professionals. Offers a naturalistic approach to the resolution and healing of trauma by Peter Levine, the creator of the somatic experiencing approach to trauma.

Find-A-Therapist - Search through Find-a-Therapist's directory of verified therapists, psychologists, marriage and family counselors, social workers, licensed professional counselors and psychiatrists.

Research

Healing Ethics - An ethics research project. For the benefit of both healers and clients, this project aims to provide a comprehensive look at the personal stories of ethics dilemmas within healing professions, including both traditional health care (medicine, nursing, psychology, etc) and complementary & alternative health care (massage, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, etc).

Desexualizing the Touch Experience - Part 1 by Cherie Sohnen-Moe - The key to desexualizing touch is to create an environment that demonstrates professionalism, sets healthy boundaries, and allows sexuality while desexualizing the touch experience.

When a Client Crosses the Line by Cherie Sohnen-Moe - Some clients may “test the waters” about sexual services, while others blatantly cross the line. Massage practitioners must know how to appropriately deal with those situations.

Gender Spectrum - Gender Spectrum provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens.

Support

Massage School Notes: How Can I Help? by Julie Onofrio - Knowing why and how you help can assist you in going deeper into your process of healing and self growth.

Massage Practice Builder - This site is Julie Onofrio's gift to the massage profession because her career in massage has been such a wonderful journey and her goal is to help others in the struggles in becoming a very successful massage therapist. She offers advice and resources in many different formats, including, blogs, articles, courses, and coaching.

American Massage Therapy Association - Mentoring Program. Our Mentoring Program was launched to help improve communication skills, goal-setting, and success planning for AMTA members just entering the massage therapy profession.

Case Management Society of America - The Case Management Society of America is the leading membership association providing professional collaboration across the healthcare continuum to advocate for patients’ wellbeing and improved health outcomes by fostering case management growth and development, impacting health care policy, and providing evidence-based tools and resources.

Hara Center - The Hara Center offers professional support and advocacy. Too many people in the healing profession find themselves alone and without a sense of community or help in traversing the territory of working intimately with others. A kind and continuous connection to an experienced helper provides a structure and context to explore their struggles, have their strengths and talents reflected back to them, and to move through places of confusion as they break through to new levels of insight and professionalism. The deep work of supervision develops the heart in a mindful and compassionate way and offers an education from the inside out. An organic process, it encourages practitioners to work from their centers and develop a unique synthesis of their work.

Trauma / Abuse

BITE Model of Cult Control, by Steven Hassan. Mind control refers to a specific set of methods and techniques, such as hypnosis or thought stopping, that influence how a person thinks, feels, and acts. Like many bodies of knowledge, it isn't inherently good or evil.

The BITE model helps people determine whether a group is practicing destructive mind control and assists people to understand how cults suppress individual member's uniqueness and creativity.

Allies in Healing - Davis, Laura. Allies in Healing: When the Person You Love Was Sexually Abused as a Child. New York: HarperCollins, Publishers, 1991.

Colorado School of Healing Arts (CSHA) - Trauma Touch Therapy Certificate Program. The 100 Clock Hour/6.5 Quarter Hour Trauma Touch Therapy™ Certificate Program is an advanced training program for massage therapists and adjunct health care professionals who are incorporating consciously applied touch into their work. It is designed to train massage therapists to work at an advanced level with individuals who have experienced trauma and abuse. Students are prepared to work with psychotherapists and other health care professionals in the trauma/abuse community.

Orthobionomy - Ortho-Bionomy is a gentle, non-invasive, osteopathically-based form of body therapy which is highly effective in working with chronic stress, injuries and pains or problems associated with postural and structural imbalances.

Soldier's Heart - Promotes and guides community-based efforts to heal the effects of war. Developed by Edward Tick, Ph.D. and Kate Dahlstedt, LMHC, it provides a unique and comprehensive model to address the emotional, moral, and spiritual wounds of veterans, their families and communities.